Murphy Center for Hope seeks new ownership

United Way plans to transfer ownership and operations of the Fort Collins day shelter and homeless services provider.

Nov. 19, 2012

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The Sister Mary Alice Murphy Center for Hope is seeking new ownership after United Way of Larimer County announced it would be transferring its stake in the Fort Collins day shelter and service provider.

United Way has owned the Murphy Center, which combines various housing, job-seeking and other services in one central location, since it opened more than three years ago. United Way President and CEO Gordan Thibedeau said the original intention was for United Way to step away from the program after the first year, with Touchstone Health Partners (formerly Larimer Center for Mental Health) taking over ownership. Touchstone runs the Sister Mary Alice Murphy Center for Hope programs, with Zachary Penland as program director.

More than 20 nonprofit agencies and direct service providers are part of the Murphy Center. In 2011, it had 30,172 individuals and families visit. Since its inception, it has hosted 100,862 visitors.

When it became apparent that Touchstone would not be able to take on the Murphy Centers as originally planned, United Way began seeking to transfer ownership and operations of the transition positions center.

“United Way is not a program provider, and we are really quite interested in being able to hand that facility and program to someone who’s aligned with the services provided there,” Thibedeau said. “We were very clear from the beginning that we wanted to transfer our ownership.”

It’s unclear at this time whether Touchstone Health Partners will continue operating the program after the transition, though Thibedeau said he has been “extremely pleased” and that Touchstone has “exceeded every expectation.” In a news release issued Monday, Touchstone CEO Randy Ratliff said he is “very proud” of the work the organization has been able to do at the Murphy Center.

“We are grateful to the United Way for the opportunity to play such a critical role in the success of the center to date,” Ratliff said. “Our staff has gone beyond what we could have envisioned three years ago — giving thousands of people not only the services they need, but also the dignity they deserve.”

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Thibedeau said the decision to transfer United Way’s stake in the Murphy Center is a “little behind schedule” and has nothing to do with any funding issues for Murphy Center agencies or United Way. The program has been debt-free since its inception.

“It’s simply that United Way has to focus on the broader community impact,” he said. “The Murphy Center was something that absolutely needed to be done, and we were happy to help. We felt very privileged to bring the community together around meeting a critical human need, but it’s not something that we can do forever. This has been on our plate for some time now.”

Thibedeau said he hopes the transition will take place sometime in the next three to six months. Though United Way has spoken with multiple agencies about possible ownership of the program, including the Salvation Army, “nobody has stepped forward and said they’re in” yet. The Murphy Center will remain open until and through the transition, he said.

“I’ll allay right now any concerns that we’re going to shutter the building tomorrow,” he said. “We want to make sure that we don’t lose any part of the excellent level of services there. It’s just a pretty big undertaking for anybody, and we want to make sure that anybody new coming in would have to be really committed to the idea of providing this full range of services.”

Sarah Jane Kyle is the Coloradoan reporter covering volunteerism, nonprofits and philanthropy. Follow her on Twitter @sarahjanekyle or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/reportersarahjane.